


stepping twice into the river

by jayhood



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne's A++ parenting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:55:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23250574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jayhood/pseuds/jayhood
Summary: Anonymous asked:Hc Jason only had two friends in school, and they thought he was on vacation, but then he never came back
Relationships: Carrie Kelley & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Rena
Comments: 3
Kudos: 64





	stepping twice into the river

“Hey,” she heard.

There’s no way Rena was talking to  _ her _ ! Yet, when Carrie looked up, and around, as discreet as her long pink-dyed fringe allowed, she could not see anyone else.

“Hey!” Rena clicked her fingers almost in Carrie’s face. “Do you know where Jason is?”

That explained it. Kinda. Rena was that girl who ditched her classes and always knew where to buy weed. Carrie was the girl who wrote poetry and was really into drama club. The only point where their lives interconnected was Jason Todd.

“If he doesn’t answer your texts…” Carrie started, planning to end it with something scathing. Take a hint, maybe?

Carrie still struggled with witty comebacks, no matter how often Jason offered his help and expertise. It almost always ended with someone getting sent to the principal, so Carrie could not be at fault.

“Does he answer  _ yours _ ?” Rena parried.

And no, he didn’t. Last time they spoke, Jason texted her to warn he won’t be able to make it on Monday to rehearse. Something about a trip overseas, getting tan, and a hot blonde attendant flirting with him?

_ You wish _ , she sent back.

Today was Wednesday.

“I mean,” Carrie said. “He probably doesn’t have a cell service where he is?”

She took out his phone and rolled through her contacts. Rena was crazy, really. Jason just figured out he doesn’t want anything to do with this loser. Rena had everything and wanted nothing except getting high and mock people and - Carrie didn’t actually know anything else about her. If there was something to know, anyway.

And Jason, Jason was going places. He talked about college a lot. About his journal - he started it as an English assignment but he really liked the process so he continued, even if the result, he said, self-deprecating, was unpublishable. About how maybe acting was a thing to try out for real, and would Carrie be interested in checking out some casting calls and auditions with him?

But there was something in Rena’s eyes, a true worry, and anyway, she wasn’t his girlfriend, and even if she was and Jason decided to break up with Rena, he wouldn’t ghost her.

“The phone number you’re trying to reach is unavailable or has been disconnected,” Carrie heard, instead of the dial tone.

“Yeah,” Rena breathed out. “Same with me.”

“Maybe he’s sick again,” Carrie offered.

Jason had the worst immune system on Earth, missing as much school as he attended.

It’s a miracle that otherwise, he looked healthy if a little thin. And they had PE the last period on Fridays together, if she thought about it, she never seen him out of breath or struggling.

“Maybe we should ask a teacher?”

Rena snorted the way she did not to show she found something funny but to display her derision.

“I sneaked into one of the school admin’s computer. His file says he was withdrawn by the Wayne.”

In the middle of the school year? That wasn’t actually all that rare. A couple of seniors last year were forced into rehab - it was either that or juvie, and no one from their high school ever went to juvie.

“If anything happened to him because you got him involved in something…” Carrie started.

“Fuck you!” Rena said.

Their dialogue kinda derailed into insults and threats after that.

Carrie did not team up with Rena to look into which school - or facility - Jason’s school and medical records were transferred to. They did not storm the Wayne Manor together after they gotten rebutted by the butler. They did not find out, not until Vicky Vale found and informed all of Gotham, that Jason Todd was quietly shoved in a closed casket and buried, the same day they got into the fight.

They talked once, after, about going to the police. They went together, only Wayne was friends with the Commissioner Gordon, it never went anywhere. Rena was mad as hell. Carrie gave up.

It’s not that it haunted her. Carrie grew up, got a degree, came back to work at the same school Jason never graduated. She hadn’t even had Rena’s number until Damian Wayne stopped coming to class.

She found Rena at Facebook, of all things.

“  _ I need your help _ ,” she wrote after sending her a friend request.  _ “I think Wayne did it again.” _

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is https://redjaybathood.tumblr.com


End file.
